Back and Bigger than ever!

[LovelyLadyLauraLee]

Hello!
I joined this forum sometime in the last year or so. I was trying to slim down for my wedding. I ordered the DANDR online, took over a month to get it, and by the time I finally got it, I had gone to my bridal shower and stopped living low carb! After the wedding, bought a house, lost my great job due to downsizing, and basically spent the better part of a year stressed out and doing alot of stress-related eating! I lost 11 lbs before my wedding, but am now up 15-20 from then, depending on the day! I've been complaining to my husband for a while to get my treadmill in the house (It's too cold to use it in the garage these days!), but I went to my brother's wedding over the weekend and after seeing those photos, I know something has to be done. I am tired of feeling inferior, defective, ugly, unattractive, out of breath, like I'm going to keel over at any given moment! Like I keep saying....I was big when I met my husband, but back then, I wore my weight well. But there's no way you can wear 265 lbs well on a 5'3 frame! My husband and I want to start a family. Then I realized... I am exhausted all the time now, just lugging around my body. I can't imagine how exhausted I will be when I am even bigger with a post-pregnancy body, trying to take care of a baby! So, one of my goals is to lose weight, get healthy so I can be a mommy!
I guess this all sounds like a bunch of mish-mash, but, it feels good just to get my feelings out in the open!

[Adena]

Welcome, LauraLee. You've come to the right place. I'm sure many here can relate to trying to get healthy as a first step toward starting a family.

The first step is to crack open DANDR and read it... understanding the science behind it all is vital. Post here often. Read of others' progress and successes. Learn from their mistakes. Consider joining a challenge (check out the Challenges and Exercise Challenges forums). If you like to write and want a place to chronicle your feelings and your journey, start a journal (see "Journal Chats" forum). And, most importantly, if you feel week in your resolve, come HERE. Send out the "fat signal," and I promise people will come running.

Best of luck to you -- keep us posted on your progress!

[floydgirl]

Welcome to the ADBB, LovelyLauraLee.

What a year you had. Good things like the wedding and buying a house. Sorry about losing your job.

Glad you have the book, I hope you took the time to read it. Lots of important information in there.

Just think, you took the first step to a healthier you. Next year when you look at the photos from your brother's wedding, you won't be able to recognize yourself, because you will be much thinner AND healthier.

Welcome aboard!

[boonie stomper]

Welcome back, LLLL (if that's OK). I hope you have still got the DANDR (2002 edition) and are taking the time to familiarize yourself with it, as it makes all the difference in the long haul if you go through all the phases as directed. I too did Atkins before starting a family, but it was the old version, and after doing nothing but induction, for 6 months, I soon found out the hard way about UN- duction (undoing all your progress). Believe me, babies are heavy enough to lug around without you carrying extra luggage at the same time! (not to metion baby luggage, LOL.

This time around, you may find weight comes off more slowly, so you may want to visit 2nd Time Around forum. Good luck, & feel free to ask questions to help you start off well.

[MaggieBE]

You will have a much easier pregnancy if you lose the weight before you conceive! My first pregnancy at a normal weight(the baby died) was a lot easier then the other two pregnanies where I was overweight. I sure wish that I would have got to my ideal weight with Atkins before we started to try to conceive. I remember at the time before conceiving that Atkins was much easier then. None of the childrens treats in the house to tempt me, no problem finding time to fit exercise in, etc. We would very much like to conceive our third living child. However dh will not "let" me until I reach my goal weight.

Wishing you the best!

[sallyseachange]

Welcome Lovely Laura! Glad you decided to come back to Atkins.

You'll find the board a great place to ask low carb questions, air your views, get advice, take up exercise challenges, learn new low carb recipes... and lots more.
Everyone's happy to help out.

If you eat the way Dr A advised you'll soon see the pounds drop away, you'll feel much more energised and you'll certainly gain better health. This way of eating is soooooo worth it!

Your self image will get healthier too and, I'm willing to bet, that with the pounds shed, you'll not have long to wait before becoming the mommy you want to be!

Happy losing!

[LovelyLadyLauraLee]

Thank you Ladies so much for your words of encouragement! This is my husband's second (and final!) marriage. We have custody of his 9 year old daughter from his first marriage. So, between her and my husband, I have all sorts of "baddies" (I can't call them "goodies" anymore, can I?) all over the house. Last night, I wanted everything in sight! My husband had a pizza waiting for me when I picked my stepdaughter up from him at work last night. He said, "Here's your dinner". I told him that I can't have that! Last night, it seemed like there was temptation everywhere I looked. We went out of town last weekend for my brother's wedding, and I am just now getting around to unpacking. I came across 2 leftover Rocher bonbons in my bag. I almost ate them before I remembered...I've started my new life! Then, of course, the bag of chocolate donuts, the 2 boxes of fudge rounds and the box of boston creme rolls on top of the fridge tried to make me cheat. The bags of nice, sugary cereal and the box of (my favorite!) S'mores pop-tarts kept calling my name. Gosh, I wanted something sweet so bad last night, it about killed me. I am a recovering sweet addict. Do you ladies know of anything induction-friendly that I can have to quell my sweet tooth? I am going to try to stay on induction for as long as I possibly can. I've been trying to read the book any time I get a free minute, but that's been pretty rare lately. I was going to read some tonight at my step daughter's basketball practice, but then I had to schedule a phone-tech to come out to my house this evening during basketball, so I have to drop her off, run home and wait for the fella. I honestly feel like I am going to go crazy unless I get something sweet (or even semi-sweet) on my tongue. I try not to think about it, but then...that's all that I can think about! Oh well. I guess it might help me if I state my goals. My ending goal is to be at 140 lbs. If I go on down lower than that, I'd be happy. My mom is the same height and body-type I am, and she had gastric bypass surgery a couple of years ago and fluctuates between 130 and 140. I'd be happy to look like her (I'd be happy if I got half the compliments she gets when we go out together!) I think my first mini-goal is reasonable. I want to be at 245 by Valentines Day. That would put me down exactly 23.5 pounds. I haven't seen that number on a scale in about a year and a half... Maybe longer!

[floydgirl]

I'm thrilled to hear that you resisted those temptations that were calling your name! What a great step towards success.

The first few days are the toughest to battle it out, as far as sweet cravings. What I do when I am craving sweets is I eat something with a lot of fat in it. Like some cream cheese. That seems to take the edge off of my sweet tooth.

Hang in there! We want you to be a success story!

[sallyseachange]

Good for you for resisting temptation! It gets easier as you go along, believe me.

Here's a link to a thread giving the 'Clouds' recipe which is induction friendly and helps ease the cravings.

Clouds

Just remember to stick within your daily sweetner allowance (3 servings/packets splenda).

Btw... is your book the 2002 edition? That's the one this board goes by and is the last one Dr A wrote.

Hang in there and you'll be a big loser soon!



EDIT

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